Preakness attendance limited to 10,000

Attendance at this year’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore in May will be limited to 10,000 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the track’s parent company and local government officials said Tuesday.

The Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, has typically drawn approximately 130,000 to the Baltimore track during the last decade. The 10,000 attendees allowed this year will be required to maintain social-distancing protocols, the track said.

Tickets for the May 15 event and the previous day’s card, featuring the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, will go on sale April 5, the track said. Ticketholders who “carried over” their tickets for last year’s event – which was delayed until October and run without fans in attendance – will be able to redeem those tickets, though their seats may be changed to allow for social-distancing, Pimlico said.

1/ST, the company formerly known as The Stronach Group that owns Pimlico, said that tickets would be made available for indoor dining, outdoor viewing, private suites, and the Turfside Terrace. Individual tickets will run from $150 to $500, while the price for private suites was not being advertised.

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Churchill Downs, which runs the first leg of the Triple Crown, has announced that it will allow fans at 50 percent to 60 percent of normal capacity for this year’s Kentucky Derby on May 1. The track has said that attendees in the infield will be assigned seats in temporary grandstands because of social-distancing protocols.

1/ST said in the Tuesday announcement that the decision to allow fans at Pimlico was “made in consultation with and by approval of local and state health and governmental authorities.”

“Having fans back at Pimlico is another sign we are on the road back to normal, and I look forward to once again presenting the Woodlawn Vase,” the trophy that is awarded to the Preakness winner, said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, in the announcement.